Hair curler



Feb. 25, 1964 A. SAFIANOFF HAIR CURLER Filed'Feb. 9, 1961 United States Patent 3,122,146 HAiR CURLER Albert Safianoif, Chieago, Ill, assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 88,127 2 Claims. {Cl- 13239) The present invention may be classified as a tubular hair curler or mandrel on which hair is wound or rolled for curling or waving. More particularly the present invention relates to such a hair curler in which the tube will be collapsed circumferentially, compressed, or reduced in effective diameter automatically as hair wound upon it contracts during treatment while on the curler.

It is usual when curling or waving hair to wind or roll the hair around a curler and then treat it with water, setting liquids, or permanent waving lotions. While moistened, the hair becomes softened and therefore subject to stretching if much tension is applied to the strands. When drying, the hair has a tendency to contract. One purpose of the present invention is to allow the hair to contract and expand during treatment without putting undue strain or pull on it to stretch the same while in softened condition and to allow the hair to dry properly on the curler, also without imposing undue strain.

Another object is to provide a hair curler of the class described in which the coiled hair is supported by the curler over a substantial portion of the circumference of the curl so that irregularities in the wave or curl are avoided.

Still another object is to provide a collapsible hair curler avoiding sharp edges or elements which might mechanically damage the hair coiled thereon, all edges being rounded wherever they are in possible contact with the hair. This object may be further advanced by careful choice of the materials fiom which the curler is made, it being preferred that the curler is flexible and resflient and of a material that is soft and smooth to the touch.

A further object is to manufacture a curler in a relatively flat form to conserve space in shi ment and storage, although when in use such curlers may be regarded as large-diameter types and therefore bulky. While manufactored in flat form, it is intended that the user or consumer will assemble the curler and form a tube simply by bending it around a finger and making a simple connection of two opposite edges. For this purpose suitable releasable connection details are provided at opposite edges of the curler.

Other objects and details of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and the drawing forming part thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a curler as it is manufactured according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the curler of PK}. 1 taken along the line and in the direction of the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section like FIG. 2 but with the curler formed into tubular shape, as it will be used;

FIG. 4 is a cross section like FIG. 3 but with a tress of hair wound thereon and showing the curler in its compressed or reduced diameter condition; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 3 but showing a modification of the invention.

As will be clear from the drawing, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the curler in the form in which it is manufactured or molded; that is to say, a generally flat, unitary sheet, rectangular in plan view. This means that in shipment and storage before use and between uses the curler will occupy but little space and several of them may be packed or stacked one on top of another. It has been found that such flexible, resilient, soft-textured plastic materials as plasticized polyvinyl chloride, copolyrners of vinyl chlo- 3,122,146 Patented Feb. 25, 1964 ride, and vinyl acetate or polyethylene are suitable materials for construction because they are impervious and inert to hair-setting or treating lotions and do not change their physical characteristics when subjected to the range of temperatures involved in hair waving or curling of the types contemplated. Above all, the material must be sufficiently flexible and softly resilient under all expected conditions so that the elements or" the curler will function in the manner described below Without subjecting the hair to any undue stress or strain during any part of treatment.

The body of the curler in the preferred form is desig nated as it) in the drawings, and it is molded preferably from one of the materials of the kind, specified above into a relatively thin sheet. The principal active elements of the curler are an array of equally spaced, substantially identical hair-supporting panels ll and the curler-joining panels 12 and 13, panel 12 being offset away from the plane of the hair-supporting panels and panel 13 being in the same plane as the panels ill. The panels ll, l2 and 13 have longitudinal margins which are parallel to each other and are joined or secured in spaced relation by resilient hinge means later described.

In order to join together the outer longitudinal margins of the curler body releasably, the curler-joining panel 12 has a number of projections or male connecting elements 14 thereon which extend from the offset surface not farther than the plane of the panels 11. Matching apertures or sockets 15 for the projections 14 are provided in the joining panel 13; and due to the flexible resilient nature of the material used, the projections 14- and the sockets 15 will fit together under slight finger pressure to join the opposite edges of the curler and form a tube in the obvious manner. Because the elements of the joint are simply snapped together and held by the resiliency of the material, it is an easy matter to disassemble the curler by releasing the connection. When joined together, the

/ panels 12 and 15 become in effect another hair-supporting panel having the same general size and shape as the panels 11.

Each of the panels 11 is forarm'nous, or provided with a series of spaced openings or perforations 3.6 for circulation of air and so that hair wound thereon may be suitably impregnated with water or waving liquids or lotions. For some purposes the perforations need not be used, but they are normally desirable.

In order to obtain the desired collapsibility or compressibility of the curler, resilient hinge means are used to join the longitudinal margins of the hair-supporting panels. V-sections 17 are provided between the spaced panels 11 and between the panels 12 and 13 and the adjoining panels ll. To provide necessary resilient flexing points or hinge lines of greater flexibility than the rest of the body, sections of reduced thickness 18 preferably are formed between the free ends of the V-sections and the adjoining panels and further sections of reduced thickness preferably are provided at 19 at the apex of each of the V-sections 17. When the curler body is formed into a tube, the V-sections project inwardly. If the material of the curler is too stiff to allow all of the flexing desired at the lines 18 and 1 3, other hinge lines may be provided in the sides of the V-sections.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a tress of hair H is wound around the assembled curler and a slight tension is applied, the hinged V-sections 17 will start to collapse inwardly along the lines of greater flexibility i8 and is and eflectively reduce the circumference of the curler although the circumferential extent of each of the panels 11 remains the same. If the tension on the coil of hair on the curler is relaxed during a waving operation, the curler will gently expand against the coiled tress and continue to support it for proper Waving action. Also, if the tension should increase, as it might during drying, the curler may contract further, thereby preventing stretching of the hair being waved. Hair coiled around the curler will prevent the elements of the joint from becoming accidentally disengaged.

It will be noted that the preferred assembled curler of this invention will have a cruciform transverse cross-sectional shape rather than a round cross section as in some hair curlers of the general type under consideration. However, it wfll be noted further that the circumferential hair-supporting panels occupy a relatively large portion of the circumference and that the edges joining with the resilient hinge sections are smoothly rounded so that the outer surface of the curler approaches that of a cylindrical curler in its action in hair waving. There are no sharp edges which come into contact with the hair. The resilient flexible nature of the material used for the body, with its soft surface texture, facilitates obtaining a wave without deleterious strain or mechanical damage to the hair.

The form of the invention in FIG. 5 has a body 29, and it is th ee-lobed instead of four-lobed in cross section, making a sort of isogonal Y. The hair-supporting panels 11, the end joining panels and the resilient hinged sections between the panels are made the same as before, and the action of all of the elements is the same although the hair will not be supported over as much of the circumference of a curl as in the other form. To increase the circumferential active area of the curler, a larger number of hair-supporting panels may be used (not shown), thereby providing additional lobes, probably up to siX lobes as a practical limit for curlers of the sizes now in vogue.

With the realization that modifications and equivalents of various elements of thepresent invention might be 7 made Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof,

what is claimed is:

1. A generally flat sheet adapted to be formed into a tubular hair curler comprising an array of hair-supporting substantially fiat panels having parallel longitudinal margins, resilient hinge means formed integral with said panels securing adjacent margins of said panels to each other and means for releasably joining together the outer longitudinal margins of panels at opposite ends of said array to form a tubular curler, said resilient hinge means comprising V-sections, each of which extend in the same direction, secured by lines of reduced thickness to provide lines of increased flexibility to the adjacent panel margins, each V-section also having a line of reduced thickness to provide a line of increased flexibility at its apex, the width of each of said substantially fiat panels being greater than the depth of said V-sections.

2. A compressible hair curler having a tubular body of flexible resilient material with a plurality of equally spaced, perforated hair-supporting panels thereon separated by flexible sections, said flexible sections being formed integral with said panels and being in the form of flexible V-sections extending inwardly Within said body, said V-sections having a line of reduced thickness adjacent the apex thereof and a line of reduced thickness adjacent the junction of each V-section with its adjoining hairsupporting panel for increased flexibility and hinging, said perforated hair-supporting panels being substantially fiat and having a width greater than the depth of said V-sec tions.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,258,920 Yates Oct. 14, 1941' 2,445,924 Ratlifi July 27, 1948 2,582,550 Madore Jan. 15, 1952 2,966,913 Lerner et al. Jan. 3, 1961 

1. A GENERALLY FLAT SHEET ADAPTED TO BE FORMED INTO A TUBULAR HAIR CURLER COMPRISING AN ARRAY OF HAIR-SUPPORTING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT PANELS HAVING PARALLEL LONGITUDINAL MARGINS, RESILIENT HINGE MEANS FORMED INTEGRAL WITH SAID PANELS SECURING ADJACENT MARGINS OF SAID PANELS TO EACH OTHER AND MEANS FOR RELEASABLY JOINING TOGETHER THE OUTER LONGITUDINAL MARGINS OF PANELS AT OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID ARRAY TO FORM A TUBULAR CURLER, SAID RESILIENT HINGE MEANS COMPRISING V-SECTIONS, EACH OF WHICH EXTEND IN THE SAME DIRECTION, SECURED BY LINES OF REDUCED THICKNESS TO PROVIDE LINES OF INCREASED FLEXIBILITY TO THE ADJACENT PANEL MARGINS, EACH V-SECTION ALSO HAVING A LINE OF REDUCED THICKNESS TO PROVIDE A LINE OF INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AT ITS APEX, THE 